Renovating a Home With Mold

The house flipping craze is not all that old and people often jump right into it without doing much research about anything, whether it is the cost of the materials necessary to renovate a property, the building codes for the area that need to be followed, or what it takes to repair certain kinds of damage to a home. If you do your research before deciding to get into the housing market, you should do just fine, but if you do not, you are liable to get burned pretty easily.

One thing that many first time flippers do not think about is the issue of mold growing in the property they are trying to renovate and flip. If you run into mold when trying to renovate a property of any kind, you need to know just what it will take to get rid of that infestation, because no one is going to want to buy it with it as-is. You cannot just cover up the contamination, because you will be liable for it later unless your contract with the buyer specifies that the sale is an “as-is” one.

Mold can be cleaned from these properties often, but sometimes the infestation can be more widespread than you might think that it is, so mold testing is necessary before you decide to put the house on the market. Sometimes entire slabs of drywall or building lumber need to be removed in order to completely get rid of it. Using bleach to rid the property of the contamination can work on hard surfaces like tile, but when it comes to getting it off of drywall, this will not be a great option. If it is embedded into the wall, the whole slab will need to be removed.

Also be aware that you should not touch mold growth with your bare skin. Use latex gloves and respirators when you have to remove drywall and suspect that there is mold behind it.

If you do have to do a lot of new wall construction in the home you are renovating, it is probably a good idea to invest in some paperless drywall. Mold loves to eat the paper on both sides of the drywall that you hang in your home, but if you remove the paper, the chances for mold growth are significantly reduced because they do not have as much material to eat.

Also, invest in some mold and mildew resistant paints when you start re-painting the home. This will help keep the infection either from returning or starting anew.




Jim Corkern is a writer and respected contributor to the Water damage restoration and mold remediation Industry. Visit his sites for more information.
http://www.moldrestorationny.info
http://www.moldrestorationnj.info